Instructor Name: Betty Rickey RN, MSN

Course Name: NUR 101BW: Care of the Aging Adult

Objective: Participate in reflecting upon clinical experiences during the first semester of Nursing Clinical Courses

Description of Previous Assignment: 1-2 Discussion Board assignments on sharing clinical experiences

Rationale for Assignment Revision: Students get lost in different discussion boards and seem to not "see" the connection between theory and practice as well as can be. Some read each other's comments, many do not, they just write their own and then move on to the next discussion without learning from each other.

Technology to be used: Blog http://blogger.com


Instructions students will need to use technology: I will instruct the students to go to http://blogger.com and follow this site's instructions on how to create their own blog. They will then be asked to send the instructor their blog's URL website. It will be optional for them to post it for peers to read at first. Later, once they are comfortable with the technology and sharing, I will ask them to allow peers into review and collaborate by sharing clinical interventions that worked for them or their patients.

Brief description of content students needed to accomplish assignment (textbook, websites, lectures, videos, resources): This assignment will be twofold: First part will include a progressively developed patient scenario based on a client who has been in the student's care. The second part of this assignment will include a weekly journal as described below. 1. First part: Students will refer to nursing textbooks/online websites with a "focus" on one patient they would like to understand/learn about with the development of precise information on pathophysiology, possible etiology, textbook signs/symptoms, medical and nursing diagnostics and interventions, patient outcomes, etc. The student will OK this patient with their clinical instructor. The student will want to begin this part of the assignment early in the course, preferably prior to week 3, so the student has the time to perfect the client case study. 2. Second part: Each student will be required to post to their blog a weekly clinical reflection on what they learned, any positive and/or frustrations that were encountered, , etc. They cannot use patient, family, doctors or nurse's names nor include any specific information about the patient that could conflict with HIPAA rules. 3. In the beginning of week 4, each student will allow peers in their own clinical group the opportunity to review and learn from each other's blog. Each peer must make one comment to each blog that aims at what was learned from this blog.

Instructions for students to complete assignment: Each student will need to develop a blog as stated above, identify a patient who they would like to investigate more in depth (approved by the clinical instructor), communicate their clinical reflection on a weekly basis and after the second week, begin to share their clinical reflections with peers. Each student will need to invite the lead instructor (who lectures) plus their clinical instructor and clinical peers to review their blog and reflections starting in Week 4. From Week 4 on, clinical peers will review each other's blogs making at least one comment on each peer's blog prior to week 7. At the end of the course, each student will want to make sure their blog related to the client case study is written professionally since points for the blog will be awarded by the clinical instructor for accuracy, connection of the dots (critical thinking) along with meeting of the criteria which is in the supplement.

Grading criteria, rubric, and assessment: Will be created and placed in the Course Supplement. These will be discussed during week one of the course.